Ode to the Germans
The Spirit of BritanniaInvokes across the main,Her sister AllemaniaTo burst the Tyrant’s chain:By our kindred blood she cries,Rise, Allemanians, rise,And hallowed thrice the bandOf our kindred hearts shall be,When your land shall be the landOf the free—of the free!
With Freedom’s lion-bannerBritannia rules the waves;Whilst your BROAD STONE OF HONOURIs still the camp of slaves.For shame, for glory’s sake,Wake, Allemanians, wake,And the tyrants now that whelmHalf the world, shall quail and flee,When your realm shall be the realmOf the free—of the free!
MARS owes to you his thunderThat shakes the battle-field,Yet to break your bonds asunderNo martial bolt has pealedShall the laurelled land of artWear shackles on her heart?No! the clock ye framed to tellBy its sound, the march of time;Let it clang oppression’s knellO’er your clime—o’er your clime!
The press’s magic letters,That blessing ye brought forth,—Behold! it lies in fettersOn the soil that gave it birth:But the trumpet must be heard,And the charger must be spurred;For you father Armin’s SpriteCalls down from heaven, that yeShall gird you for the fight,And be free!—and be free!
Words in this poem
- britannia n.
- A white-metal alloy of tin, antimony, bismuth, copper, etc. It somewhat resembles silver, and isused for table ware. Called also Britannia metal. [From L. Britannia Great Britain.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- whelm v. t.
- To cover with water or other fluid; to cover by immersion in something that envelops on all sides; to overwhelm; to ingulf.
- clang v. t.
- To strike together so as to produce a ringing metallic sound. [L. clangere; akin to Gr. clank.]
- clime n.
- A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
- charger n.
- One who, or that which charges.
- sprite n.
- A spirit; a soul; a shade; also, an apparition. See Spright. [OE. sprit, F. esprit, fr. L. spiritus. See Spirit, and cf. Sprightly.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode to the Germans is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Poetical Works of Thomas Campbell, Project Gutenberg ebook #59788; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Thomas Campbell, Ode to the Germans, in The Pleasures of Hope, and Other Poems (1824), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #59788, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/campbell-poems/ode-to-the-germans.html, id L24465.
Form and metre
Ode to the Germans is 40 lines in 4 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABBCDCD britannia · mainA · allemania · chainA · criesB · riseB · bandC · beD · landC · freeD
- 2 -A-ABBCDCD banner · wavesA · honour · slavesA · sakeB · wakeB · whelmC · fleeD · realmC · freeD
- 3 ABABCCDEDE thunderA · fieldB · asunderA · pealedB · artC · heartC · tellD · timeE · knellD · climeE
- 4 A-A-BBCDCD lettersA · forth · fettersA · birth · heardB · spurredB · spriteC · yeD · fightC · freeD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The Spirit of Britannia | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘˘ |
| Invokes across the main, | 6 | ˘/˘/·· |
| Her sister Allemania | 7 | ·/˘···· |
| To burst the Tyrant’s chain: | 6 | ···/˘· |
| By our kindred blood she cries, | 7 | ·//˘··· |
| Rise, Allemanians, rise, | 6 | ······ |
| And hallowed thrice the band | 7 | ·/˘˘··· |
| Of our kindred hearts shall be, | 7 | ·//˘··· |
| When your land shall be the land | 7 | ······· |
| Of the free—of the free! | 6 | ······ |
| With Freedom’s lion-banner | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| Britannia rules the waves; | 7 | ˘/˘˘··· |
| Whilst your BROAD STONE OF HONOUR | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Is still the camp of slaves. | 6 | ······ |
| For shame, for glory’s sake, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Wake, Allemanians, wake, | 6 | ······ |
| And the tyrants now that whelm | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Half the world, shall quail and flee, | 7 | ······· |
| When your realm shall be the realm | 7 | ······· |
| Of the free—of the free! | 6 | ······ |
| MARS owes to you his thunder | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That shakes the battle-field, | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Yet to break your bonds asunder | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| No martial bolt has pealed | 7 | ·/˘···˘ |
| Shall the laurelled land of art | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Wear shackles on her heart? | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| No! the clock ye framed to tell | 7 | ······· |
| By its sound, the march of time; | 7 | ······· |
| Let it clang oppression’s knell | 7 | ···˘/˘· |
| O’er your clime—o’er your clime! | 6 | ······ |
| The press’s magic letters, | 7 | ·/˘/˘/˘ |
| That blessing ye brought forth,— | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| Behold! it lies in fetters | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| On the soil that gave it birth: | 7 | ······· |
| But the trumpet must be heard, | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| And the charger must be spurred; | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| For you father Armin’s Sprite | 7 | ··/˘/˘· |
| Calls down from heaven, that ye | 7 | ···/˘·· |
| Shall gird you for the fight, | 6 | ······ |
| And be free!—and be free! | 6 | ······ |
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